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Is Nature Indifferent to Us?

I love this Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, by Bill Watterson. It speaks to me on so many different levels, not least of all as a Mother of Cats. But it’s mostly the first part that I’ll be pondering over in this blog post today.

Is nature indifferent to us? Well, perhaps on the whole, yes. Nature could be indifferent to everything. The entirety of nature is such a vast concept, to me it’s like pondering deity, for in my own religious and spiritual view, nature is deity.

However, in my own personal practice, I feel that the gods are not indifferent to us, so where does that leave me with regards to the above? I’m just not sure. Could it be a paradox, that the deities care and don’t care at the same time? That would make them truly similar to cats…

It’s hard to come to terms with the darker aspects of nature, the pain and suffering that exists. Just yesterday there as a fox in the garden, and it looked like s/he had been hit by a car. One of their back legs wasn’t working, and there was definitely trauma to the back leg and hip. The fox had worried all the fur off of the back leg, hip and tail. It was taking respite from the wind in our garden, sheltered as it is by hedges. It also had a nice long drink from our pond.

After a while I went out to see just how badly it was injured. It couldn’t hear me above the wind, and I didn’t want to startle it so I called softly out to it. It turned its head and then quickly stood up. I gave it a quiet wave and it ran on its three legs back through the hole in the hedge and was gone.

I put some food out for it later that day, and will be doing so each night. I fear that the chances that this fox will survive are pretty slim, but at least it won’t die on an empty stomach.

I meditated that night on the suffering that goes on all around us, every second of every day. That poor fox was in lot of pain, but there was nothing I could do about it. Even had I called the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, chances are that by the time they got here the fox would be long gone anyway. I wondered at how such a thing could happen, could be “allowed” to happen to a beautiful creature as this fox. Tears flowed as I struggled with the suffering of so many lives right now.

People are in the hospital, wars are going on, wild animals are being hit by cars, the oceans and rivers are full of raw sewage and plastic – I could go on and on. It sure seems like the majority of humans today are indifferent to nature, so why shouldn’t nature be indifferent to us?

But nature hasn’t been indifferent to me. I have had wonderful experiences of true connection. I understand how we are all part of this one, great whole. I just wish that others could understand this, in order to save ourselves from our own self-destruction, and the widespread destruction of nature all around us.

But nature is also indifferent. The wind blows whether we like it or not. We have no say in earthquakes, sunshine or rain. Perhaps this is not indifference, but our own inability to see the bigger picture, the whole. 

I am not offended by the seeming indifference nature has for us. Rather, I see it as an opportunity to show nature how much I really care. I aim to live in this world as best I can, with as much sympathy, empathy and compassion as I am able to give. I seek to be a contributing, functioning member of my own local ecosystem, and thereby a part of the wider world too.

Maybe nature really is like a cat. Sometimes it appears indifferent, and other times we can feel the genuine affection that it has for us, if only we are sensitive enough to feel it and open enough to accept it.

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Whispers of the Moon

I’ve been a fan of Enya for over 30 years. I wrote this song for her, filled with the images of water which her music invokes in me whenever I hear it.
I had a 45 minute window to shoot this video, before I lost the light. It was cold, already at 0-C and falling quickly. The clouds cleared a half hour beforehand, and I was so delighted to see the full moon rising from the receding clouds on the eastern horizon over the North Sea. It was pure magic.
Blessings of the Moon to you all. xoxo
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I have a new course: An Introduction to Freya

I am offering a new course! An Introduction to Freya: Goddess of Life, Sovereignty and Magic.

For more information, please visit my website at joannavanderhoeven.com.

If you are interested, please email me at vanderhoevenjoanna@gmail.com.

‘Freyja and the Necklace’, 1890. Freya. Illustration from “Teutonic Myths and Legends” by Donald A Mackenzie, 1890.
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New Interview!

Last week I was interviewed by Pagan for my new book, the Path of the Hedgewitch. The podcast is now available, so please go on and have a listen, and check out all the other great stuff on there too!

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Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Well, happy new year! 2022 was a very busy year, and things don’t look like they’re slowing down anytime soon. Sadly, we ended the year with the loss of a very dear family member on the Winter Solstice, which was utterly heartbreaking. It really brought into focus the time of year, and how the seeming “death” all around us in the heart of winter here in the UK is not just an abstract concept, but something very real, very visceral and which changes lives forever.

Yet the cycle continues, and even in these dark days I can notice the longer daylight hours, the difference in the birds’ song in the mornings, the buds slumbering on the tree branches and the beginnings of snowdrops. There is always hope, if we just know where to look.

This year will be a year of writing for me. I already have this blog, and I write for my community at Patreon, but I am also starting my new book: a follow-up to The Path of the Hedge Witch, which came out in October 2022. I’m excited about writing again, after over a year of editing, fine tuning, marketing and all the other bits and pieces that come with releasing a book. It’s nice to get stuck into a new project!

I’ve still also got my YouTube channel, however I think I will only be posting about one video a month there, as my time will be devoted first and foremost to my writing this year. It’s been a wonderful experience working with the medium of video, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

My own personal practice continues, both as a Druid and a Hedge Witch. With regards to teaching, we had a great time at the Introduction to Wicca and Witchcraft sessions in Woodbridge, Suffolk last autumn. It was nice to teach in-person again, locally too! The Introduction to Druidry online course is going well, and I also offered an Introduction to the Goddess, Freya on my Patreon community last autumn, which was well received. I may make that course more widely available this year, so keep an eye out for it here and on my website.

This year for me, personally, I am focusing on deepening my relationship even further with the gods, and also my connection to the land where I live. I’ve always felt like my heart has been in two places at once, having grown up in Canada but moved to the UK in the late 90’s. I need to carve out more time from my busy schedule to commune with the land and its inhabitants. I also need to re-establish a daily meditation practice, as that slipped away bit by bit last year. A daily practice of communion with the gods through prayer and meditation is always a good thing. I’ve also made a little space for my house wight next to the hearth, and hope that they like it – I’ll keep you posted!

Our garden still has its regular visitors, day and night. The muntjac deer always come round late afternoon for tea (bird seed and peanuts), the magpies tagging along as well as the ubiquitous pigeons. We also have collared doves, the occasional small group of fallow deer, jackdaws, crows, hedgehogs, pheasants, owls, badgers and various neighbouring cats each day. Yesterday I even spied a falcon, most likely a young kestrel, sitting deep in the branches of a massive ash tree on a neighbouring property behind my hedge. Wonderful!

I spent the winter holiday period with my family in Canada, and it was so good to see and be in the snow again. It’s been five years since I’ve experienced snow like that, and the colours, the sounds, the smells were all just such a joy. I adore snow, but we don’t get much, if any at all, here on the Suffolk coast, and so I was delighted when the plane landed in a blizzard. We had several feet of snow over the holidays, and when I left we were flying through yet another snowstorm. Great for outdoor lovers of winter activities in Quebec!

I hope that this year brings you joy and abundance, peace and lots of good will. May your words be kind, your thoughts be clear and your voice be strong. Blessings to you!

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The Runes: Rād

In this blog series , we will go through the runes as they are recorded in the Anglo-Saxon or Old English Rune Poem.

The fifth rune, Rād or Raidho  as it is commonly known, means “riding” and is mainly concerned with travel and roads, pathways and suchlike, but has lots of other lovely aspects to it such as partnership, co-operation, and sometimes even good luck. In the Old English Rune poem, Rād is defined thus:

“Riding is for every man in the hall

Easy, and strenuous for him who sits upon

A powerful horse along the long paths.”

As someone who has worked with horses for many years, I can see the truth is this kenning quite clearly from a literal viewpoint. When we have a powerful horse beneath us, we need to learn how to work in co-operation with its own power, instead of trying to overpower it ourselves. Horses work best with us if we use a “power-with” model, instead of a “power-over” model, especially when working with dominant or lead mares.  If you are fighting against the horse’s own power (and it’s way bigger and stronger than you) and are on a long road, then you will be exhausted by the end of it. Instead, learn to work with the horse’s energy, a blending with your own and form a true relationship, one of reciprocity, of give and take. You’ll get where you need to go in life a lot easier that way.

This rune also makes you consider your “seat”, or how you sit in the saddle. You have to work with the horse, and your seat is just as important as the reins. How you sit will greatly influence the horse, as it can feel the slightest movements in your weight, legs, hips, even the turning of your head. Many people think that riding is all about the reins, but first and foremost, it’s about your seat. If you weight is too far forward or too far backward, for instance, it will impair what you and the horse are trying to achieve. So Rād/Raidho is a good reminder to be mindful of how you are in the world, in order to move through it better.

Pollington suggests that this rune may have been used as a good luck charm for travel.[1] If you are planning a journey, or wish to go on one, using this rune could be very beneficial. The shape of the rune even suggests travel, as the rough outline looks like the head and neck of a horse. As stated above, it could also mean power, and even wealth, for horses have always been expensive to keep. Don’t forget that not all travels occur in this world – this rune could symbolise travelling between the worlds too.

Even the deities used horses – Odin has his eight-legged Sleipnir, and the wains of the Sun and Moon are drawn by horses. There is a beautiful Bronze Age solar chariot in Trundholm, Denmark, with a very lifelike representation of a horse (strangely, on wheels) which may symbolise the turning of the year.

Rād is to work with a powerful ally. Use it in your travels, both in this world and the Otherworld. Be mindful of your seat, and work in co-operation. Rād is not only the means of travel, but the road itself.

Sources:

Albertsson, A. Wyrdworking: the Path of a Saxon Sorcerer, Llewellyn (2011)

Gundarsson, K. Teutonic Magic: A Guide to Germanic Divination, Lore and Magic, Thoth Publications (2007)

Pollington, S. Rudiments of Runelore, Anglo-Saxon Books (2011)

Rance, S. The English Runes: Secrets of Magic, Spells and Divination, Dragon House (2017)

Waggoner, B. A Pocket Guide to Runes, The Troth (2019)

[1] Pollington, S. Rudiments of Runelore, Anglo-Saxon Books (2011)